MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD

1 JANUARY 2023

 

          As we gather to celebrate the Eucharist today, we are very much aware of time.  It is on our minds that we have turned the calendar page today.  That is why so many people are celebrating in Tim’s Square.  They bid farewell to 2022 and greet the New Year, 2023.      

However, bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new year is not the concern of Saint Paul as he writes to the Galatians.  Saint Paul speaks of “the fullness of time.”  He refers to the birth of Jesus Christ.  In the past, the original witnesses encountered him and worshipped him as a vulnerable infant placed in a manger in Bethlehem.  On this last day of the Octave of Christmas, Saint Paul speaks to us about “the fullness of time.”  In the present, we encounter Christ in the Mystery of the Incarnation.  Saint Cyril of Alexandria says, “Jesus is placed like fodder in a manger….  By now approaching the manger, even his own table, we find no longer fodder, but the bread from heaven, which is the body of life.”  We will also encounter Christ in the future. In the Prologue of his Gospel, Saint John says that Jesus has pitched his tent with us and will continue to dwell with us throughout this New Year.

            Mary, the Mother of God, helps us to understand how we have encountered her Son in the past, how we are encountering her Son now, and how we will encounter him in this New Year.  Saint Luke tells us that after the shepherds left glorifying and praising God, “Mary kept all these things reflecting on them in her heart.”

            This is not the first time that Mary pondered or treasured or reflected on things in her heart.  It happened earlier when Gabriel shared the news that she had been chosen to bear God’s Son.  It will happen again when Joseph and Mary take the child to be consecrated in the temple.  There, they will meet Simeon and Anna, who will confirm that the child is the sign of salvation and the fulfillment of all their desires.  It will happen a third time when Joseph and Mary find their twelve-year-old son who had been lost in the temple.  Even though she may not understand why her Son felt at home in his “Father’s house,” she will keep all these things in her heart.

            Mary spent a lifetime digesting all that had happened.  She reflected on her treasured memories and perplexing moments – of angels and shepherds and old people and rabbis in the temple.  She held them up to the light to deepen her understanding.  Her reflections helped her to form her conscience and her actions.  They fueled her imagination for what God was doing.  As Mary pondered these things, she grew in the courage she would need to face whatever lay ahead for her and her Son.

            Mary invites us to ponder and reflect on our own experiences of her Son in the year that we are leaving.  If we have encountered the mercy of Jesus, then we can reflect on how we can share that mercy with those who are too hard on themselves.  If we have encountered any kind of healing from her Son, we can ponder how we can be part of the healing of the wounds of others.  If we have encountered strength in an impossible time, we can treasure how to share the light of Christ with someone dwelling in darkness and fear.  If we have experienced the correction of someone who has had the courage to confront us with love, then we can be part of the process of straightening the life of a loved one making bad choices.

            In our digital age with 24/7 instant news and communication, it is easy to make snap judgments and knee jerk reactions.  Mary can teach us how to embrace the Mystery of the Incarnation in our past, in our present, and in our future.  She teaches us how to live in “the fullness of time”, no matter what happens to us in these next 365 days that the calendar gives us.

 

THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

25 DECEMBER 2022

 

            Our Scripture readings tell us of those who encountered the mystery of Christmas:  God taking on human flesh.  Joseph obeyed the message received in a dream and trusted that Mary had conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He obeyed the order of Caesar Augustus and traveled to Bethlehem with his pregnant wife to be counted in a census.  Shepherds in the area responded to the message given by the angels and encountered the child  born in a stable.  Astrologers from the east encountered the child and gave precious gifts.  All of these original witnesses were profoundly changed by their encounter.

            However, all of them returned to the same unchanged world after their encounter.  The Roman emperor continued his work at managing the world, completely unaware of what had happened in a backwater part of his empire.  Joseph and Mary were still under the tyrannical rule of King Herod.  The shepherds returned to a society that disregarded them.  Considered by the religious leaders of the day as equivalent with tax collectors and prostitutes, no one would trust their witness.  The magi returned to a solidly pagan world.

            We too encounter this Mystery as we gather to celebrate the Nativity of the Lord.  The Mystery occurred in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread” in Hebrew.  We encounter his real presence at this Mass, as ordinary bread is transformed into the Body of Christ, and ordinary wine into his Blood.  But like those original witnesses, we return to the same world unchanged by Christmas.  The dysfunctions in our families remain to cause pain.  Our society is still bitterly divided.  Despite the presence of the Prince of Peace, the war in Ukraine rages on, along with violence and bloodshed in our streets.  We might be tempted to ask ourselves a question.  What difference does Christmas make?

            The shepherds and the magi were profoundly changed by their encounter.  We do not know what they did after they left the manger.  But we do know what Joseph and Mary did.  They took the child to the Temple and listened to Anna and Simeon, who had waited their entire lives to encounter this child.  Joseph obeyed another message in a dream and took his wife and child as migrants in a foreign country.  We can only presume that Joseph taught his stepson the trade of carpentry when they returned to Nazareth.  Mary stood with her son, even when people began turning against him.  She stood at the cross as he was cruelly executed.  After her son had been raised from the dead, she joined the apostles in the upper room for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Because of the Mystery of the Incarnation, Joseph and Mary faced the realities of daily life with the firm conviction that God was dwelling in their midst.

            The same can be true of us.  We too can be changed by our encounter with the newborn Christ.  Our encounter reminds us that God continues to dwell in our midst, no matter what happens in our daily lives.  Confident that the Lord dwells in our midst through the ongoing Mystery of the Incarnation, we gather here on Sundays to hear the Lord speak to us in his Word.  Throughout this Liturgical Year, Jesus will invite us to become more intentional disciples, as he invited the original disciples to follow him.  He feeds us with his real presence in the Eucharist.  He sends us forth to conform ourselves to his person and his message.  With his indwelling, we can be confident that we can make a difference in our world, despite the many circumstances that will remain completely out of our control.  We can also be confident that the Lord has shared in our humanity, so that we can share in his divinity.

            We have encountered him here.  As he sends us forth, may that encounter transform us to be disciples of hope in a very dark world.  Merry Christmas!

 

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

11 DECEMBER 2022

 

          John the Baptist is in prison.  As awful as modern prisons might be, they cannot compare with ancient prisons.  John has been lowered by ropes into a dark stone pit, sitting alone in the dark, awaiting execution.  The question sent by his disciples to ask Jesus a stunning question gives some insights about his emotional state.  He is the cousin who leapt in his mother’s womb for joy at the Visitation.  He had pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and baptized him in the Jordan River.  Now, he asks, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”  In the darkness of that cell, is he so depressed that he has lost his faith?  Is he impatient, because his cousin, the Messiah, had not delivered him from his terrible fate?  Or are his expectations of a Messiah crushed because Jesus is being compassionate instead of hurling judgments at sinners?

            Jesus does not answer his question directly.  Instead, he sends John’s disciples to tell him what they hear and see.  Blind people regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.  Unlike so many of the religious leader who are finding offense at him, John is “blessed” if he recognizes that these results of his ministry had been prophesized by the Prophet Isaiah centuries before.

            As we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s first coming at Christmas and to prepare for his second coming at the end of the world or at the end of our lives, we too can find ourselves stuck in some kind of prison.  Our prisons can take many forms.  We can be immersed in doubt when it seems that the Lord does not respond to our prayers.  We can be so paralyzed by fear that we cannot open ourselves to any encounter with Christ or other people.  We can be drowning in an uncertainty that robs us of any confidence in the faith we profess at Mass.  Confined in those prisons, we can easily ask John’s question to the Lord: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

            Jesus does not get angry with John for asking his question.  Instead, he praises him for his heroic role in taking the attention away from himself and pointing to the coming of the Messiah. Neither does he dismiss our questions.  Instead, he gives us the same answer.  He urges us to open our eyes to see the ways in which the Lord is present in our darkened and divided world.  People who have lost their spiritual sight are beginning to see, especially in many of our adult education offerings in the parish.  Some who have been separated from their families are walking back to be reunited at Christmas.  Some who have been forced to the fringes of society are being welcomed back.  Many are hearing the Word of God for the first time in this Season.  Some who have been at death’s door have recovered.  Many poor families who have received the good news that we care about them through the gifts they received from our Giving Tree.

            We call this Sunday “Gaudete Sunday,” because we are invited to rejoice and have hope, even in the midst of a very dark world.  The Letter of Saint James speaks of the importance of patience in keeping the faith.  Like a farmer who trusts the rhythms of nature to provide a harvest, we must be patient in looking for the Lord.  We encounter him not by complaining about one another, but by seeing our encounter with each other as an encounter with Christ.  Like the prophets who did not see the results of their challenging words, we do not always see the results of our good intentions or actions.  Saint James tells us to be patient.  He does not define patience as resignation.  Instead, patience is the fruit of a loving faith that is content to discover God’s gifts in the manner and the moment the Lord chooses to reveal them.  With that loving faith, we can see the ways in which the Lord comes to us now.  As disciples learning to be more patient, we can maintain our hope that the kingdom is in our midst now, but not completely yet here.  

 

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

4 DECEMBER 2022

 

          The Jesse Tree is all about the kingship of David, whose father was Jesse.   It is a reminder of the promise that the messiah would come from his house.  But the Prophet Isaiah is honest about the state of that tree in his time.  The kings had not been good successors of King David.  They had trusted the appearances of those who clamored for favors.  They had believed rumors and had gone to wars needlessly.  They had ignored the poor, and they could have cared less for the land’s afflicted.  They focused their energies on their own needs.

            That stately tree has become a stump, Isaiah says.  Yet, he gives hope to his people.  He says that a shoot would sprout from that stump.  God would keep his promise.  With the gifts of wisdom and understanding, the promised Messiah would have the intelligence to rule rightly.  With the gifts of council and might, he would have the practical ability to govern.  With the gifts of knowledge and fear of the Lord, he would have the piety to be the Lord’s anointed one.  The kingdom of this Messiah would usher in the peace of the Garden of Eden.  It would be a peace so profound that natural enemies will live together in absolute harmony.

            We believe that this prophecy has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  During Advent, we prepare to celebrate his first coming at Christmas.  We prepare for his second coming at the end of time.  We believe that his first coming has ushered in the kingdom of heaven in our midst.  But non-believers scoff at that.  Where do those natural enemies of nature live in peace?  Where is that perfect harmony promised in the kingdom of heaven?  It is true.  War is raging in Europe and other areas of conflict in our world.  The Mideast continues to be in turmoil.  We see strife and division and racism and hatred in our own country.  Even within our Catholic Church, there are tensions and divisions.  Where is the absence of harm or ruin promised by Isaiah?

            That is why Advent is so important.  His kingdom is here, but not yet perfected.  The end of time will usher in the fullness and absolute peace of the kingdom of heaven.  Advent invites us to catch glimpses of that kingdom already in our midst.  We can catch a glimpse if we slow down and express gratitude for those people whom God has brought into our lives.  We can catch a glimpse of his kingdom when we can finally let go of a difficult hurt inflicted by someone we once considered a friend and confidant. We can catch a glimpse when we see the abundant fruits of this year’s Giving Tree and its impact on so many of our needy brothers and sisters.  We can catch a glimpse when we allow our children to teach us what it means to be “childlike.”   

            In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist points another way to catch a glimpse of the Kingdom of heaven in our midst.  He calls us to repent.  He wants us to acknowledge the ways in which we have turned our backs on the kingdom of heaven with our sins.  He invites us to examine the ways that we have failed to allow the kingdom to be more evident through us.  We can do that by encountering the Lord’s mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Come to the Advent Penance Service a week from Tuesday, or make a good Confession during the week before Christmas. 

Saint Paul says that we can maintain our hope in the presence of the kingdom of heaven and its fulfillment at the end of time by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures.  The Scriptures we hear during this Advent Season give us hope.  Encouraged by what we hear, we can repent and resolve to encounter the Lord more clearly in our daily lives and see him in our encounter with others, especially with those we do not like or with whom we disagree.  If we can make these efforts, then Christmas will be different.  It will be more than one day that will pass into our collective memory.  It will be an authentic encounter with the essence of Christmas: The Mystery of the Incarnation.  Christ truly dwells in our midst.  He will keep his promises.